XP startup prob - HD about to fail?

[dafuzz]

I'm getting an occasional "DISK BOOT FAILURE - INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" on XP start-up. Resetting the machine has (so far) worked.

I'm hoping for a loose connection but fear this may be portentous of an epic HD fail

So I'm about to buy a new HD and swap everything over just in case - is Norton Ghost the way to go?

Cheers chaps

[halfstack]

could be your bios backup battery on your motherboard going flat. change that first - it's usually a watch/calculator type battery

[dafuzz]

I didn't think of that - it would certainly explain the intermittant nature of the prob - although I only replaced the mobo 18months ago. I'll give it a shot, cheers

Still, just in case, what's the best way to create a full HD image?

[Ian B (again)]

Ghost is ok I guess, but I much prefer Acronis True Image. If you have either a Maxthor or Seagate HD installed, there is a free version of True Image and the HD doesn't have to be your system disc. Scroll down to the bottom of the EULA for the download links

Seagate version Disc Wizard http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...iscwizard-eula

Maxthor version Maxblast http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup.../maxblast-eula

[dafuzz]

Originally Posted by Ian B (again)

Ghost is ok I guess, but I much prefer Acronis True Image. If you have either a Maxthor or Seagate HD installed, there is a free version of True Image and the HD doesn't have to be your system disc. Scroll down to the bottom of the EULA for the download links

Seagate version Disc Wizard http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...iscwizard-eula

Maxthor version Maxblast http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup.../maxblast-eula

Western Digital

Still, there's a free trial download - I'll grab that. Cheers

[digitalscream]

Here's a suggestion - back everything up, obviously, but unplug all your USB devices (particularly storage devices) except mouse/keyboard, and see if it keeps happening. I've seen quite a few cases lately where boards will try to boot from USB (which doesn't have an OS on it 99% of the time) on the first attempt, but not after a reset.

[dafuzz]

Originally Posted by digitalscream

Here's a suggestion - back everything up, obviously, but unplug all your USB devices (particularly storage devices) except mouse/keyboard, and see if it keeps happening. I've seen quite a few cases lately where boards will try to boot from USB (which doesn't have an OS on it 99% of the time) on the first attempt, but not after a reset.

Just did a full shutdown with everything in situ and it started up again fine - it's gonna be a bugger to track the problem through elimination because it's intermittant. I used to have a problem sometimes if I'd left my iPod attached but I don't do that anymore, the only USB devices permanently attached are my printer and card reader, but they've been around since day one.

Might be my main optical drive - it's set to first boot in the BIOS - but I always leave it empty on shutdown.

Gawd knows. As it stands I'll replace the CMOS, back up my data and finally do what manic's always advocating - fresh install, tweak set-up, make image